A World Without Cages explores the literature of mass incarceration and migrant detention by bringing together the work of writers on the inside and on the outside. The project includes the Witness Program, which empowers writers of color to witness and write about mass incarceration through site visits, meetings with those directly affected by incarceration and detention, and ongoing correspondence. A World Without Cages aims to nurture writers, activists, and intellectuals so they can dream a new American mythology beyond segregation, immigrant exclusion, and Islamophobia.

Earlier this year, Penguin released a competing edition of John Okada’s 1957 novel No-No Boy, claiming that it was in the public domain. They didn’t grasp how the history of the novel’s publication is as important as the novel.

John Okada deserves credit for framing his book around the character of a resister—but he missed the opportunity to portray the depth and breadth of principled protest by incarcerated Japanese Americans.

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